The Faculty of Civil Engineering in Belgrade has revealed that an examination of available public documents regarding the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station indicates that these materials are inadequate.

According to their statement, the contracts and amendments involving all subcontractors are lacking.

“The documentation includes a table listing over 130 subcontractors, yet their subcontractors are not identified. Contracts with all parties involved in the project execution are absent,” they emphasize.

The Faculty of Civil Engineering highlights that the necessary approvals from investors and financiers, specifically the Ministry of Construction and the Serbian Railway Infrastructure Company, for the selection of all subcontractors, are missing.

They further note that there is no accessible documentation to establish how subcontractors were selected.

Additionally, the Faculty states that certain construction site documents are either unavailable or incomplete. They mention that construction logs and the construction book are not complete, the inspection book is missing, along with other essential inspection documentation and technical attestations.

The Faculty of Civil Engineering warns that documentation stored electronically, which is not certified with an electronic signature, cannot be verified in terms of date, raising concerns that these may not be the final or authentic versions of the documents.

They also mention that while some construction logs are accessible, portions of them are not legible.

“Given that some documents are manually filled, the elapsed time since their publication raises doubts about the authenticity of the construction logs,” they assert.

The available construction logs do not contain any records of technical inspections of the facility or its commissioning.

The Faculty states that an analysis of monthly reports identified the absence of a report for April 2024, which, according to available documentation, should include the technical inspection of the station building and a proposal for its trial operation.

“Weekly reports indicate that architectural and construction works on vestibule (wing) B of the station commenced in the fourth week of April, which contradicts available construction diaries stating these works began earlier,” they clarify.

They also express concern that the report on the technical inspection of the facility pertains to an application for works that are not related to the cadastral plots where the station is located.

The Faculty of Civil Engineering has enumerated the documents lacking under the accountability of the investor and the Republic Construction Inspection.

Vučić calls for the release of documents requested by the faculty

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić took to Instagram, urging the Government and the Prosecutor’s Office to disclose documents concerning the reconstruction of the Novi Sad Railway Station that the Faculty of Civil Engineering indicated were incomplete or missing.

“Clearly, the extensive documentation we provided was insufficient, and further inquiries are being made, indicating suspicion. I urge everyone to submit every document, regardless of significance, as the prosecution would not have proceeded with an indictment if they did not possess all necessary information regarding a potential criminal offense,” he stated.

Vučić called on the Government to remove any ‘Confidential’ tags from the documents, if applicable, and to request project documentation from both investors and contractors.

Documentation released, experts claim it remains incomplete

Following demands from students engaged in a blockade and public pressure, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced in mid-December the release of documents related to the Railway Station’s reconstruction.

A selection of documentation was gradually made available on the Serbian Government’s website, but students involved in the blockade and members of the professional community quickly pointed out its incompleteness.

Additional documentation was subsequently released on the Government’s website and the website of the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad by the end of December.

Nevertheless, students and representatives from the professional sphere continued to insist that critical documents necessary for establishing accountability for those involved in the reconstruction of the Railway Station remained absent.

“In particular, missing contracts need to clarify who performed which tasks and at what cost, why reconstruction costs surged fivefold, and who is accountable for the ceremonial opening of the Railway Station twice without a proper usage permit,” expressed the students in blockade.

They further stated their objective is not solely to make the documentation publicly accessible but to prompt the prosecution to initiate an investigation towards legal accountability.

The tragic collapse of a concrete canopy at the reconstructed Railway Station resulted in the deaths of 15 individuals and serious injuries to two others.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad has charged 30 individuals in connection with the canopy collapse that occurred on December 13th.

The defendants include former Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesić, his assistant Anita Dimoski, as well as former director of the public company “Infrastruktura Željeznice Srbije” Jelena Tanasković.

Ten defendants are currently in custody, Vesić is at large, and both Tanasković and Dimoski are under house arrest.

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